Summit 12

DC area music organizations Listen Local First and Metro Music Source co-hosted the Future of Music Summit kickoff party on November 12 at the Dunes following a pho (and fun) filled dinner at Pho 14 in Columbia Heights.

The party at The Dunes featured performances from local musicians including singer-songwriter Dan Fisk, jazz/bluegrass duo Bumper Jacksons, Michael Shereikis of afropunk band Chopteeth and Grammy-nominated hip hop artist Chrystylez Bacon.

Attendees mingled and sipped cocktails in the open space at The Dunes and discussed the plans for the highly anticipated Future of Music Summit.

[…]A few weeks ago, Lowery gleefully confronted supporters of the bill with this argument at the Future of Music Coalition Conference, which led bill sponsor, Senator Ron Wyden, to hit back and claim that, as one of the strongest defenders of the First Amendment, he’d never support a bill that took away free speech rights. He promised Lowery that he’d review the specific language of the bill, and if there were any interpretations that impacted free speech rights, he’d fix them. […]

WASHINGTON, D.C.— There were moments Tuesday during the annual Future of Music Summit where the conversation about revenue in the digital music industry sounded like a scrum over crumbs, a desperate fight over an increasingly shrinking pie.

“There is so much competition for so much music, and it’s all so devalued,” said one exasperated music entrepreneur, Rodney Whittenberg. He was one of hundreds of musicians, executives, attorneys, policy makers and journalists who attended the conference, presented by the advocacy group the Future of Music Coalition. […]

“Who the [heck] is this guy and why is he trying to sell me a warm sack of [poo]?”

This question lit up my mind last week, as I sat in the audience for the Future of Music Coalition Policy [sic] Summit in Washington, DC. The guy in question was, in fact, a US Senator — Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) — while said warm-sack-of-[poo] was the Internet Radio Fairness Act (IRFA), which Sen. Wyden is sponsoring in the Senate. read more

[…]This disconnect between old media companies and new is hilariously illustrated by comments that one of the bill’s sponsors, Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, made recently at the Future of Music Coalition Summit. After some harsh words for the major labels, Wyden said the following, as quoted by Digital Music News: “Now, if it weren’t for the disruptive independent record labels — I’m talking about people like I.R.S. and Sub Pop and Tim/Kerr — we might never have known much about bands like R.E.M., and Nirvana and the Replacements … I sure want us to remember their enduring influence on not just rock music, but on their contributions to our culture and an entire generation.” read more

[…]When it comes to an issues as complex and contentious as copyright, artist compensation, and fair business, maybe real clarity was simply too tall an order. A panel with four intelligent and strongly-opinionated players whose top goal is to advocate their position (and not necessarily educate an audience) arguing for 40 minutes was doomed to (as they say) generate more heat than light.

Truly the Future of Music Coalition put together a great panel of speakers (as well as a truly terrific day of content). Unfortunately, as it goes with issues like this, it’s arguable whether any audience member was able to come away with a cooler or clearer head.[…]

The 2012 Future of Music Summit has come and gone, and if you were one of the more than 2,000 live viewers (and countless more tweeters, etc.), you know it was one for the books. And if you missed it, don’t worry: we’ll have complete archives of the event uploaded as soon as possible. read more

On Tuesday, November 13, 2012, FMC will host its 11th Future of Music Summit in Washington, DC. Our ELEVENTH! As always, the event will tackle the emerging issues at the intersection of music, technology, law and policy. Our goal is to bring together stakeholders with different – even opposing – views, so we can dissect and discuss complicated topics, giving musicians a clearer sense of the issues, the players, and how decisions made by policymakers in Washington, DC might affect their livelihood. read more

The Future of Music Summit 2012 is less than two weeks away! While the event is currently at capacity for in-person attendance, there’s no need to worry…the entire schedule of panels and conversations will be streamed online for you to watch from anywhere. Sign up to get a reminder email the morning of the Summit!

Don’t let the distance stop you from participating - join the conversation online by using the hashtag “#FMC12,” or organize your own local viewing party. We’ve put together some helpful tools to make it easy to host an event in your own home. Visit our resources page to find viewing party checklists and customizable flyers you can use to prepare your own event. Get together with your friends, colleagues or community to talk music, tech and policy with FMC.

Washington, D.C. — Future of Music Coalition (FMC) ( http://futureofmusic.org ), a national nonprofit education, research, and advocacy organization for musicians, will hold its much anticipated Future of Music Summit on Tuesday, November 13, 2012, a mere week after the national elections of November 6. read more